City of Darlington Designated as “Fire Safe Community” for Second Year by Fire Safe South Carolina

DARLINGTON, S.C. (June 23, 2025) – The City of Darlington has been named a “Fire Safe Community” for consecutive years by the Fire Safe South Carolina program.

The Darlington Fire Department achieved this honor for the second year in a row through active fire safety outreach in the community. Each year, a different firefighter is designated to lead the team’s efforts, and throughout the 2024 – 2025 campaign, Lt. AJ Cox spearheaded the campaign.

“Our team, led by Lt. Cox, did an incredible job this past year with the Fire Safe South Carolina program,” Darlington Fire Chief Pat Cavanaugh said. “The mission is to educate the community and thanks to the dedicated hard work, the Darlington Fire Department introduced more Darlingtonians to fire safety.”

Car seat safety, as well as smoke alarms and education within the Darlington County School District led this year’s initiative for the Darlington Fire Department. The data collected by the Darlington Fire Department throughout its campaign will improve data-driven resources needed for National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) training, which integrates the use of geographic information systems (GIS).

The Darlington Fire Department joined more than 200 other fire stations from around the Palmetto State to receive this year’s award during the annual SC Fire-Rescue Conference at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center on Friday, June 13. The inaugural Fire Safe South Carolina communities were named in 2019, and the 2023-2024 campaign marked the first time in history the Darlington Fire Department received the designation.

The Fire Safe South Carolina program is a partnership between the S.C. State Firefighters’ Association, S.C. State Association of Fire Chiefs, S.C. Fire Marshal Association, S.C. Chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators and S.C. and Office of State Fire Marshal.

The Darlington Fire Department has been serving the City of Darlington since 1880. To learn more, please visit www.cityofdarlington.com/fire-department or call 843-398-4013.

PHOTO: (left to right) Deputy Fire Chief Charles Bailey, Lt. AJ Cox and Fire Chief Pat Cavanaugh (Credit: Lisa Bailey)